Seekers Unbound: Navigating Babel from Inquiry to Discovery develops information and AI literacy through gamified instruction, active learning, and play. Students skillfully, critically navigate our complex information ecosystem, increasing familiarity with tools and strategies for discovery while mastering the craft of effective search query construction. Gamified instruction invites students into a storied world where imagination, creativity, strategy, collaboration, and fun make research and information literacy feel like play. Students depart Babel with a toolkit of sharpened skills, a network of new allies, and a clarified sense of how and where to discover needed information.
Seekers Unbound is an immersive and engaging information literacy game that challenges students to become skillful navigators of a complex and often chaotic information ecosystem. The game seamlessly integrates AI technologies to enhance the learning experience and foster the development of crucial AI literacy skills alongside traditional information literacy competencies.
Throughout the game, students interact with traditional and AI-powered tools to conduct research, critically assess limitations of tools and search strategies, generate insights, and overcome challenges. By incorporating AI technologies, the game exposes students to the possibilities and limitations of AI in the context of information seeking and knowledge discovery. Students learn to critically evaluate the outputs generated by AI and other tools, understanding the importance of human discernment and judgment in the research process.
Moreover, the game itself is a product of extensive collaboration between the instructors and AI language models, demonstrating the potential for AI to enhance and transform educational content creation. The game's rich narrative, evocative imagery, and dynamic gameplay were co-created through iterative ideation with Claude, Perplexity, and ChatGPT, showcasing the power of human-AI partnership in designing engaging and effective learning experiences. See our acknowledgement of generative AI tool use below.
In coming iterations, an AI tool might also join game sessions as the “voice of an ancient sage,” a persona that comes to life through the use of text-to-voice software. This provides students with an opportunity to interact directly with AI as a character. Students experience GenAI’s capabilities and limitations, fostering an understanding of how AI can be leveraged for learning and knowledge discovery. Interactions with AI inevitably spark interesting discussions and reflections on the role of AI in education and in society more broadly.
Through gameful design, students are invited into a storied world where they must navigate the metaphorical Library of Babel; there, they not only sharpen their information and AI literacy skills but also develop a deeper understanding of the role of AI in shaping the modern information landscape. By grappling with the challenges posed by the entity known as "Dis" (representing issues such as disinformation, bias, and information overload), students cultivate the critical thinking and adaptability necessary to thrive in an AI-driven world.